CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Indians played the Detroit Tigers in the second of a four-game series Tuesday. Here is a capsule look from The Plain Dealer reporter Dennis Manoloff:

Game: 136.

Opponent: Tigers.

Location: Progressive Field, Cleveland.

Time of day: Night.

Time elapsed: 3 hours, 52 minutes.

Attendance: 9,990.

Result: Tigers 4, Indians 2.

Records: Tigers 76-62, Indians 70-66.

Head-to-head matters: The Tigers have won three straight against the Indians to pull even in the season series, 7-7. During the winning streak, the Tigers hold a 43-19 advantage in hits and 21-4 advantage in runs.

Bottom line, up front: The Indians suffered their most gut-wrenching defeat of the season, all factors considered.

Tiger tales: J.D. Martinez hit a three-run homer off Cody Allen with one out in the ninth inning to account for the final margin.

Torii Hunter, who had been 0-for-4 with a GIDP, led off with an eight-pitch walk. He fouled two full-count pitches.

Miguel Cabrera ripped a full-count fastball to center for a single, Hunter stopping at second. Cabrera was behind in the count, 1-2, took two balls and fouled a fastball. Cabrera, lifted for a pinch-runner, went 3-for-5.

Victor Martinez, in a 2-0 count, had a fastball to hit -- but missed it. He flied to center and scolded himself loudly. Martinez went 3-for-5.

The Tribe's celebration was short-lived because the other Martinez smoked a 1-0 fastball into the trees in center. C-C Lee relieved and retired the next two.

Allen had attempted to earn the save with one pitch, the fastball, because his curve abandoned him. Being forced to rely only on the fastball cost him dearly against right-handed batters Hunter, Cabrera and J.D. Martinez.

Two-homer blip: Allen, so good for so long, has encountered a rough patch. He has given up homers in the ninth inning of each of his past two appearances. On Sunday night at Kansas City, Alex Gordon's blast tied the score, 2-2. The Indians scored twice in the 10th for a 4-2 lead before the game was suspended because of rain.

Progressive Field masher: J.D. Martinez finished 3-for-5 and is batting .464 (13-for-28) with five homers and 13 RBI in seven games at Progressive Field this season. He continues to feast on fastballs on the outer half of the plate.

It is one thing to get tormented by the wrecking crew of Cabrera and Victor Martinez -- which seems to happen to Cleveland on a daily basis. It is another matter entirely to absorb haymakers from J.D. Martinez.

On March 22, the Houston Astros released J.D. Martinez. Two days later, the Tigers signed him.

Yes, J.D. has benefitted greatly from being in a lineup that includes Miggy and Vic. No matter: The Indians can't afford to allow a DisAstros castoff to come into their house and push them around. Yet it keeps happening.

Stat of the night: The Tribe slipped to 54-2 when leading after eight innings.

Cookie Express: Allen's outing cost Carlos Carrasco a victory, which would have been his fourth in five starts since rejoining the rotation Aug. 10. In those five starts, Carrasco has combined to go 3-0 with a 0.90 ERA (30 IP, 3 ER).

Against the Tigers, Carrasco did his best work in traffic. He gave up one run in 5 1/3 innings despite 10 hits and one walk. He struck out 10.

Sowing bad seeds: While it is true that the Indians lost when Allen gave up a three-run homer in the ninth inning, it is not true that they lost solelybecause Allen blew the save.

The Indians' failure to do much against Tigers finesse lefty Kyle Lobstein contributed to their downfall. Lobstein allowed two runs on five hits in 5 1/3 innings. He walked three and struck out 10.

The Indians whiffed 10 times against a pitch-to-contact youngster who made his third major-league appearance (second start). In a combined 11 2/3 innings of the first two games, both this season, Lobstein struck out three.

Lobstein made 25 starts and one relief appearance for Class AAA Toledo this year, going 9-11 with a 4.07 ERA. He allowed 174 hits and walked 42 in 146 innings.

Lobstein did a better job against the Indians on Tuesday than in two of his three starts against Cleveland's Class AAA affiliate, the Columbus Clippers. His combined line in the three starts against the Clippers: 17 1/3 IP, 18 H, 10 ER, 17 K.

No help from the top: The Indians' Nos. 1-2 batters, Michael Bourn and Jose Ramirez, combined to go 0-for-9 with one walk and three strikeouts.

The impact of the walk did not last long. Ramirez led off the seventh by taking four wide ones from nondescript lefty reliever Blaine Hardy. After Hardy threw a fifth straight ball to open the at-bat against No. 3 batter and All-Star Michael Brantley, Ramirez was picked off by Hardy.

Ramirez thought he had gotten back in time to beat the snap-throw; the Indians lost the replay challenge.

Baseball is a difficult game to play, no doubt, and Jose Ramirez is a major leaguer -- which makes him much more accomplished than all but a fraction of a fraction of the general population. Regardless, he can't get picked off in that situation, no matter how close it was or how young he is.

Bourn was 0-for-5 with two strikeouts. He is batting .263 with a .318 on-base percentage.

Changing complexion of at-bats, innings: Plate umpire Mike Everitt factored in the outcome. Batters on both teams wondered about his zone throughout.

Here are four notable instances:

1. Miguel Cabrera, Detroit, first inning. Everitt called out Miggy on an 0-2 fastball that Miggy thought was outside. Miggy, as expected, voiced his displeasure before walking away. Miggy never has seen a borderline pitch that was a strike, but he might have had a point in this instance.

2. Ryan Raburn, Cleveland, second inning. With a runner on first and none out, Raburn took a 3-0 fastball (89 mph) that began outside and appeared to stay there. Everitt called it a strike. Raburn fouled the next pitch, then flied to left.

So much for two on, none out.

After Lonnie Chisenhall struck out swinging, Tyler Holt singled, putting runners at first and third. Bourn struck out swinging in a three-pitch AB, the last a 77-mph curve in the dirt.

3. Michael Brantley, Cleveland, third inning. With none on and one out, Brantley took 2-1 and 3-2 pitches that appeared to be outside. Everitt called both strikes. After the strikeout, Brantley -- who knows a ball from a strike -- calmly but sternly said his piece. The K-box used by SportsTime Ohio supported Brantley on both pitches; they weren't even close.

The "strikeout'' loomed large when the next batter, Carlos Santana, walked. Yan Gomes struck out swinging.

4. J.D. Martinez, Detroit, fifth inning. With runners on first and third and none out, Martinez took a 1-2 pitch that appeared to have run inside. Everitt called him out. The next two batters, Nick Castellanos and Alex Avila, struck out. Avila's also was called, but the third strike was legit.

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